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If you have 20/20 vision when it comes to seeing what’s wrong somebody else, be very careful that you’re not missing something big when you look in the mirror.
“Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the log in your own eye? . . . You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly. . . .” Matthew 7:3, 5
Father, please open my eyes so that I can see clearly what’s wrong with me.
As long as you can handle things on your own, part of you would probably rather not turn toward God. When troubles come, that usually changes for the better.
“[W]e are . . . half turned toward You, half rather not. . . .” Walter Brueggemann
“The troubles of my heart are enlarged. . . . My eyes are continually turned toward the Lord.” Psalm 25:17; 15
Sometimes we get so caught up in trying to figure out which path to take that we miss the simple, right-now joys of pleasing Him in the process.
“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. . . . But I believe that the desire to please You does in fact please You.” Thomas Merton
“May my thoughts and ponderings be pleasing to You.” Psalm 104:34
Somehow we’ve gotten the idea that our bad choices either don’t matter much to God or make him mad. But what if they make Him cry?
“When He approached Jerusalem, He . . . wept over it in pain and grief, saying, ‘If you had only known . . . what would bring you peace. . . .” Luke 19:41-42
“Before the Christian Church goes into eclipse anywhere, . . . she simply gets a wrong answer to the question ‘what is God like?’ and goes on from there.” A. W. Tozer
Some people refuse to sweep things under the rug and make believe everything is just fine. Other people (who are too scared or lazy to take the risk) settle. I don’t want to be other people anymore.
“[T]he world was made by a God who is a community of persons who have loved each other for all eternity. You were made for mutually self-giving, other-directed love.” Tim Keller
“Love is patient (persevering bravely without losing heart).” 1 Corinthians 13:4
When it’s storming upside-down and sideways and you’re inside by a roaring fire, you get a glimpse of what it means to have a place of safety and refuge.
“Lord, You are . . . my place of safety and refuge in the day of trouble and distress.” Jeremiah 16:19
Father, a lot of things lately seem upside-down and sideways. Remind me often today that You are my place of safety and refuge in the midst.
